Adaptistration

Does This Violin Make Me Look Fat?

Can a passion for the perfect instrument become incapacitating? Holly Mulcahy examines the issue in her latest article at The Partial Observer, which serves as an excellent companion to the article Jason Heath just published over at Arts Addict about what string players go through to find the "perfect bow." On a related note, I'm pleased to announce that Holly's column will become a permanent addition to the Inside The Arts lineup starting next week. Her column, Neo Classical, publishes a new article on the first Monday of every month. Thanks to Mark D. Johnson, The Partial Observer's editor, for his willingness to share Holly with us. I regularly post links over to her articles each month so it made since to make her a permanent part of the cultural blogging exchange. In the meantime, you can find all of Holly's articles here.

All in all, Holly's column, along with Jason Heath's Arts Addict and Frank Almond's non divisi, should be at the top of the online reading list for every manager and board member out there. These three players provide a very different, yet enormously useful, glimpse into the world of professional orchestra players, the benefits of which I'm certain don't need to be mentioned. After all, I know firsthand that a number of musicians who frequent this orchestra management blog gain a better understanding of what their managers and board members deal with on a day-to-day basis and the benefits have been very positive. So for all of you who aren't already familiar with the daily realities of being a professional musician, take some time to check out the blogs authored by Holly, Jason, and Frank.

Inside The Arts Podcasts Have Arrived

After months of talking about it, the new series of Inside The Arts podcasts have arrived. The inaugural episode, entitled Battle Of The Brahms, is available at www.insidethearts.com/podcasts. Guest panelists Frank Babbitt, Collins Trier, and John Rosenkrans (all members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra) do a brilliant job at demonstrating how to un-stuff the stuffiness of a classical music review program. You'll feel like you're part of the "in crowd" and in some sections the conversation is downright hilarious. Good times.

Something worth pointing out is the program's format allows the podcast to use audio clips longer than 60 seconds thanks in large part to the innovative licensing structure at iodapromonet.com. In fact, the only reason some of the music was edited was to keep the podcast around 15 minutes in length. Fortunately, you'll be able to listen to entire movements and purchase the ones you like best via digital download. Links to everything you need are provided at the podcast blog. Ain't technology great?

 

Because Shut Up, That's Why!

Back in the beginning of April, 2008 Jason Heath (Arts Addict and Double Bass Blog author) and I recorded the first three episodes of Inside The Arts' new series of podcasts and next Monday, the first episode from that session goes live. This inaugural series is a music review podcast where a panel of guests listens to recordings and then offers comments. Did I mention there's a catch? In order to make things more interesting, panelists typically aren't told what or who they are listening to until after they've heard the selections and offered comments…

Even Marathons Have To End

Good news in Phoenix as the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians' Association reached a tentative agreement on Sunday, 3/9/2008. The 12 month long negotiation reached a critical point last month when both sides approved a side letter to the agreement which guarantees the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians right of first refusal for all productions through the 2011/12 season. The first two years in the three year contract call for across the board freezes for wages, mileage, and per diem for the per service ensemble while the final year of the contract provides modest improvements in each of those categories.

In other news, Inside The Arts author John Rosenkrans recently published a comprehensive and engaging review of Alex Ross' hit book The Rest Is Noise at his music and culture book review column, Books On Culture. Here's a brief excerpt:

Perhaps one of his greatest gifts (as Emmanuel Ax points out on the dust jacket) is that "you want to hear to run and listen to every note he talks about," and for me that even included music that I already knew that I did not like at all.

John's review serves as an excellent precursor for those not yet familiar with Alex's book and for those who are, it is a wonderful way to complete an already satisfying reading experience.

Scanning The Dial: Inside The Arts’ Newest Blog

Inside The Arts continues to grow and today marks the launch of its latest blog. Broadcast veterans Mike Janssen and Marty Ronish fill a void in the cultural blogosphere by exploring the field of classical music broadcasting at Scanning The Dial . What does the future hold for classical music on the radio? Where is radio falling short, and where can it leap forward? In an era of iPods, XM, and Web streaming, how much does radio still matter? Mike and Marty aim to find out and you get to go along for the ride. They capture the tone of Scanning The Dial best in their respective blog descriptions:

“The media world is in a state of flux, ‘disruption’ is the buzzword,” says Mike. “Some broadcasters respond with fear or denial. Others see it as a time of great opportunity to test new technologies, forge new ties with listeners and develop unique programming that will cut through the noise and set them apart. All this makes now a fascinating time to launch this blog which follows these developments.”

“People in classical music radio are scared, they're afraid of losing their jobs and are defensive about the industry,” says Marty. “And as stations consolidate, there's less fresh content out there. The upside in this bland landscape is that anything fresh and wonderful stands out like a beacon. Exploring classical radio in an interactive format like a blog seems like the right thing to do at the right time.”

Inside The Arts is fortunate to have not one but two broadcast insiders among its members. You'll find all of Scanning The Dial’s most recent articles at Inside The Arts’ homepage but in the meantime, stop by and have a look around at all Scanning The Dial has to offer.